Gera eyes Baggies stay

03 August 2011 09:30

Zoltan Gera wants to remain at West Brom for the remainder of his career after linking up with the club for a second time.

The Hungarian international has signed an initial two-year deal with another year's option in the club's favour, but midfielder Gera has set his sights on playing for the Baggies for another five seasons, when he will be 37.

He told Press Association Sport: "Hopefully I can finish my career here and stay here, not for two to three years but for five years. I'm not thinking about two years. Hopefully I can play more than that because I don't want to be retired too soon."

Gera spent four years at Albion before moving to Fulham, then managed by current Albion boss Roy Hodgson, in the summer of 2008.

He said: "I came from Hungary and when I got here (in 2004) I just thought 'this is unbelievable, how can I play in this team?' But players have improved the club a lot since my first time here and we have lots of good players and internationals. We have a very good squad."

Gera admitted Fulham tried to keep him at Craven Cottage after his contract ran out at the end of last season.

He said: "They tried to keep me, not just the new manager (Martin Jol) but Mark Hughes as well.

"But sometimes a player feels he needs to move. I was happy there but coming back to West Brom with Roy was the best for me."

Meanwhile, another former Albion player, Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland, has emerged as a potential target for Hodgson to provide back-up to to Ben Foster.